AUSTIN BLUES BAND WITH DEEP AMARILLO ROOTS COMES HOME

13 Feb 2011 9 Comments

by rouzer in Music, Texas Blues

This is a really exciting time for me. For the first time in 41 years we get to play Amarillo again. I realize that this is really selfish on my part, but I am jazzed about it. I spent several years living in Amarillo while playing with BABY, and Steve was there much longer than I was. We practiced there, we welcomed two new band members there, all of our management and production team was from there, and we had a huge group of fans and friends in Amarillo. It was one of the happiest times of my life and I felt welcome and comfortable living there. We had some great shows, and a lot of really good musician friends in Amarillo. We had the notorious show with Sly and the Family Stone there—maybe I’ll talk about what really happened some day. We played with Bloodrock and several other bands on big shows that I can’t quite remember now. Some of the relationships that were born in those days are still alive today, and I hope to old friends when we are there. I’ve been talking with with Johnny Lee Schell recently, and saw him and Mark Camp at the Bedford Blues Festival. Howard Ragland showed up in the studio in Austin while we were making our last record recently and surprised us all. He’s been to one show now, and we talk on the phone some. Howard and his team of amazing people were responsible for putting BABY on the road on the KOMA circuit, and putting us on the map. He took a risk on a group that was relatively unknown and turned us into a thriving, regional act. That was some adventure for sure and the stories that we have to tell about that, well… Maybe in some later blogs. Bobby Byrd began as a roadie with us and became what is still today, the best sound man I have ever worked with. In the days when good sound systems were rare, he managed to get the best sound, in any building, anywhere without missing a beat—amazing. Now, that brings me to two of our oldest friends, Alan Jenkins, and Kent Cooper. Kent Copper, who was literally born into the music business, is a career radio station general manager, and has been in the business since those early Amarillo days. He has been with us as our manager almost from the beginning. Living in Corpus Christi, which is close to where I live in Port Aransas, he produced our first show with Pat Travers a week after our record was released in May, 2010. He is involved with us daily as we embark upon this new musical adventure with the Texas Blues Runners. He and Alan worked together in the 70s promoting large shows across the nation, and he brings that skill to our efforts. Kent has become one of the best large show production/promotion specialists I’ve every known. And Alan, oh Alan. He literally kept BABY going on the road, as our road manager, for many years, and is till doing it with TBR. Now, we are lots easier to handle these days, but back then I don’t how he kept the shows going smoothly and us out of jail. Well, that was actually one of his jobs, getting us out of jail. I’ll never forget the time he had to soothe an irate judge in a small Nebraska town because one of our fans rode a horse into the motel room. I think our drummer was going to jail for that one? Well, Alan and Kent are still here and so are we. Imagine that. Honestly, did any of us, and I include you, think we would live this long? Hell No! I can’t wait to see everyone in Amarillo this next week. I hope that this blog reaches some of you that were part of those experiences. I hope that you will get on here and comment about them, and fill in the gaps and tell the whole story. I really look forward to seeing and hearing from you.

God Bless You, and Rock On!

Charlie Rouzer

TBR

P.S.  Although I have rambled on, and enjoyed it, please read Kent’s concise, beautifully written article about the upcoming show below. He’s really got a copyrighting style I admire and envy…

THE TEXAS BLUES RUNNERS

02/08/2011 for immediate release…After a brief 30+ year absence, this amazing group of musicians and their managers return to Amarillo!

The Texas Blues Runners are a new band of sorts. The group, made up of veteran musicians who have played with everyone from Glenn Frey of the Eagles, to Delbert McClinton, to Freddie King and Cherie Currie of the Runaways, are now one of Texas’ hottest new blues bands.

They have recently performed at The Bedford Blues Festival with Taj Mahal and Robert Cray, played with Pat Travers and the Edgar Winter Band and even played Bayfest in Corpus Christi with Big Bill Morganfield.

Their debut CD, “Somebody Bring Me Some Water” has been getting serious radio play and has been a best seller in South Texas.

If you are old enough to remember, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, Amarillo was home base to one of the most popular touring rock bands of the time, BABY. The band released 2 albums and toured the Midwest with a vengeance, eventually ending up in Southern California. After a brief success, the members went their separate ways. The last time the band played in Amarillo was at the Tri—State Fairgrounds in 1970 with Sly & the Family Stone.

Last year, 2 of the members of Baby reunited and formed the Texas Blues Runners. Keyboardist Charlie Rouzer and bass/vocalist Steve Crane were ready to try again. They recruited old friends, guitarist Mike O’Neill and drummer Jessie Andrade from Wichita Falls and went into the recording studio. They have not looked back since.

In addition to the musicians, they brought two other Amarillo natives into the project. Kent Cooper, currently living in Corpus Christi, was recruited as manager and Alan Jenkins, former BABY road manager was brought in as road manager/production manager. Alan currently resides in Austin. Both of these men have strong Amarillo roots. Kent’s family owned Cooper & Melin Records and Books in Amarillo for 30 years and his uncle, Eddie Melin, was just named “Man of the Year” by the Amarillo Globe News. Alan’s family also still lives in Amarillo. Kent and Alan are both graduates of Amarillo High School.

On Saturday, 02/19/2011, the Texas Blues Runners and their entourage return to Amarillo to play at Austin’s Texas Pub at 6th and Louisiana. The show starts at 10pm and the band is looking forward to seeing all of their old friends and colleagues.

For more information contact: Kent Cooper 361/563-8895 or kcooper@convergentcc.com